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Camping under canvas - Tent talk. Advice, info and recommendations

Topic: Best tent for camping in France

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giddy camper

03/2/2013 at 5:23pm
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Hi, we are going camping in Brittany/Aquitaine in August and are on the hunt for a new tent, which will be suitable for the warm weather, relatively easy to put up/take down, isn't too heavy and big enough for a family of 4 (I don't want much!). Any suggestions?

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victoria1

03/2/2013 at 6:09pm
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You can't guarantee dry hot weather even in Brittany so really any tent you'd deem suitable for UK would do France as well. I would suggest that a cotton frame tent would be cooler in hot sun and being nearly stand up height throughout would be an ideal tent - problem is these tents are heavy and awkward to transport as they have heavy and often have angled poles.

A good compromise is polycotton, Kampa do a popular range of polycottons that are tunnel shaped, easy to put up, and have good ventilation.

I found ventilation very important in France when I was there. What saved me in my tent was that there were two doors, front and back (a vis a vis style tent with central living space). The through breeze made the tent (nylon) bearable. A tarp and some king poles are probably a good buy too, as not all campsites have shade.

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Post last edited on 03/02/2013 19:27:25

mikemorrow

03/2/2013 at 6:59pm
Location: Oregon coast USA
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I would recommend a inner pitch tent. Something like this.
http://www.gandermountain.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=Evenston-8-Screen-Porch-Tent&i=612231&aID=505K1E&merchID=4006
As you can see on warm nights you can remove the rainfly. These tents are the most common here in the states. I consider them as fair weather tents. Most have around 800-1200mm HH fly. Most of them can withstand a summer storm. I'm sure you can find them in your area.

Opensauce

03/2/2013 at 7:25pm
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You don't really need a different tent for France so the answer to your question would be your own choice of best tent for UK. Obviously a canvas tent is better in hot weather but a canvas tent is better in all weather conditions.

If you are camping on the French south west coast the pitches can be quite soft sand so you need suitable pegs at least a foot long. Proper alloy sand pegs are expensive but I find cheap foot long plastic pegs do the job ok. these

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mikemorrow

03/2/2013 at 7:37pm
Location: Oregon coast USA
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Tentz is right about your pegs. I use snow pegs. Or you can bury a stuff sack and fill with sand.
Not sure I'm sold on the poly cotton tents. Used them many moons ago. They are much heavier. And will mist on you in heavy rains. They do breath better but don't vent as well as other tents.

dk168

03/2/2013 at 8:24pm
Location: Devizes Wiltshire
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Hypercamp Palamos 6.

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